Society
by Serenawilliams628
Summary: A Miraculous fanfiction not based around Marinette and Adrian, but around Claire and James, two very lucky teenagers that are living in the late 1800s, where this story takes place before Ladybug and Chat Noir.
1. chapter 1

**Society**

A 'historical' MLB fanfiction

By Serenawilliams628

Inspired by _The Luxe_ , a novel by Anna Godbersen

 **Authors Note**

Our story takes place in the late 1800s of America. In this time, ladies and gentlemen in high society were judged by newspapers and gossip in every aspect of their lives. Much like the Middle Ages of Europe, if you were not rich, you were poor and looked down upon by the more fortunate people in life. At this time, America was still a young country, and though I know Miraculous Ladybug is a French show, I thought since according to the show, the miraculous has been around for more than 5000 years, I was inspired to write a fanfiction about what it would have been like in this point of history. I might make a sort of series about miraculous history, but I'm not sure.

PS-I'm still a novice author, and I still haven't figured out the whole chapter thing, oops

 **Chapter One**

Claire gathered up her skirts and rushed to the massive ballroom, where guests were beginning to gather. "Where have you been?" Her mother hissed through her teeth, a fake smile plastered to her face.

"Sorry Mother, Loraine couldn't find my white corset." Claire said. Her mother sighed and picked up a flute of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Go and mingle, I hear Thomas Danson is looking for a new bride," She ordered.

"Mother!" Claire gasped. Her mother shook her head, motioned to the growing crowd in the ballroom, and drained her glass. Desperate for better company, Claire looked to the crowd, searching for someone who she knew. A gloved hand grabbed her arm from behind, startling her. Turning, she saw her childhood friend, James Wicker, smirking at her. "What are you doing here? Mother will kill you!" She whispered, James' family was once fabulously wealthy, like hers, but when his father passed, his materialistic mother couldn't cope with the strains of poverty, and sadly reunited herself with her late husband, leaving James parentless and without money. Claire's Mother, however, took pity on the boy and employed him to the family's kitchen staff, giving him a spare room at the manor and food in his belly. James was supposed to be in the kitchen, so Claire was surprised to see him among the guests, and so sharply dressed in a full suit.

"The chef had no use for me, so he made me a temporary waiter," he grinned, "so, any dashing suitors for the lovely lady Claire?" He said with a horribly fake accent.

"I don't know, Mother said Thomas Danson is looking for another wife," she mocked, nodding her head to the ridiculously handsome man charming her mother in the corner of the ballroom

"How many brides has he gone through already? I swear, he's married more women than there are in America!" He laughed. An old man in the crowd waved his hand, hailing for a waiter. "I guess that's my cue," he sighed, and walked to the little man. _It's a miracle,_ she thought to herself, _that someone who has gone through so much still keeps a smile on his face._

"Miss Claire?" A voice snapped Claire out of her thoughts. She turned to see Peter Samuelson, a seedy looking gentleman, extending his freckled hand to her, "may I have this dance?" He asked, flashing his crooked, yellow teeth at her.

"Oh, of course," she replied. Thanking the Lord for her silk gloves, she took his hand and he led her to the center of the dance floor, where other couples were gliding across the ornately decorated tiles.

After hours of waltzing circles around the ballroom with various hopeful suitors, Claire could hardly stand when the last guest left the mansion. With a sigh, Claire trudged up the staircase into her room. After her personal maid, Loraine, helped her undress and into a silk kimono imported from Japan, Claire slumped on her bed and fiddled with the round silver locket around her neck. Three sharp taps sounded from her door. Assuming Loraine was outside, Claire flung open the door, only to be greeted by a very red James. Seeing her in such sparse amounts of clothing made his jaw drop and eyes bug.

"C-Claire?" He stuttered.

"James, what are you doing, I'm hardly dressed!" She cried, hurriedly wrapping her robe tighter around herself. He quickly dropped whatever he was holding and buried his face in his hands.

"Um, you left your box thing in the ballroom!" He rushed.

"My what?" She asked, bending to pick up the small box resting on the floor, causing him to blush harder. The little black box was decorated with a mysterious red emblem. "Loraine must have moved it from my room." Claire brushed it off, figuring it was another jewelry box. He only stared at her, not moving. "James," she started.

"I-I should go." He stuttered, gave her a quick bow, and rushed down the hall. Humiliated, Claire retreated back to her room and opened the peculiar package. A ball of light burst from the parcel. Screaming, she threw it at the wall. It bounced off and landed in the middle of her room.

"Hey, watch the face! These whiskers don't stay this straight naturally!" A scratchy voice came from behind her pillow where the box landed. A small black creature zoomed up to her face, making her scream louder. "Ow, okay my ears are in danger here!" The animal said, closing her mouth with his little paws. Stumbling back, Claire scrambled for her vanity, grabbing her paper fan and swinging at it. The creature made a popping sound and the fan went right through it. "Hey, hey lady, calm down, I'm not here to hurt you." It said.

"Get away from me you devil!" She cried, throwing her fan at it. Again, the fan went right through it.

"Just let me explain. I-"

"I don't care what you are!" The animal flew back to the pillow and returned with a silver ring. He dropped it in her hand and crossed his arms. The glittering ring caught her eye and she gingerly plucked it from her hand. While she was examining it, he began to explain himself,

"I know this is a lot to take in, but my name is Plagg and I am a Kwami."

"A what?" Much to Claire's discomfort, Plagg sat himself on the ring. While he was going on about masks and identities, she became more sure that she was in a dream.

"Well we might as well give this a try," She laughed when he finished, slipping on the ring and admiring it on her slender finger.

"Not so fast, I'm empty."

"You're what?"

"I'm hungry. I can only transform you while I have energy, got any snacks?" He demanded, zooming around the room, inspecting its contents.

"I might have something downstairs," she said. Plagg shot her an expectant look and she quickly hurried out of her room and down the hall. Claire ran to the drawing room and picked up the first plate she saw that remained from the party. With the plate, she scrambled up the staircase and into her room, where Plagg was patiently waiting. Following the smell, he floated to the rather large slice of Camembert cheese on the plate. He simply tossed the whole piece in his mouth, swallowing it whole.

"Okay sister, are you ready?" He asked.

"Sure why not, it's not like I'm going to wake up anytime soon."

"Okay, all you have to say is, 'Plagg, claws out!'" He shouted, pumping his fist.

"Um, Plagg, put your claws out."

"No, it's 'Plagg, claws out!'"

"Plagg, claws out!" She cried. The kwami, with a wink, shot into the ring on her right hand ring finger. With a surge of power, almost like an electric shock and a mixture of green and black sparkles, Claire had the weirdest sensation that she could do anything. She walked to her full length mirror on one side of her room and gasped. Staring back at her was a girl with the same blond hair and skin tone, but atop her head was a pair of black cat ears, her usually striking green irises filled her entire eye like a cat's, surrounded by a black mask that ended in a point at her nose. And at her fingertips were claws, and instead of her golden silk kimono, she was dressed in a skintight black suit made of a strange material that was surprisingly more comfortable than wearing nothing, that blossomed from her sides to form a skirt that deepened behind her back and ended at her calves. Moving around, Claire deemed the skirt very pliable yet firm, and could move around in it more, without it weighing her down like every other dress she's worn in the past. A black ribbon made of the same material of the dress and ears was tied to the small of her back, in the spot right before her skirt jutted out, and trailed to her feet, securing a metal baton to her back. She saw everything with sharper vision, and could even see dust motes floating lazily through the air. Not believing what she was witnessing, she closed her eyes and pinched her arm, but when her eyes opened again she was still in front of the mirror, dressed in her costume. Suddenly she bake cake very aware that she was not dreaming. Panicking, Claire opened her door and slipped through the shadows to James' room. _He'll know what to do,_ she thought, but when she came to his door, she tapped lightly on the wood. When he didn't answer, she sighed and went back to her room. Full of fear, Claire, without thinking, opened the window to her room, three stories above the well kept lawn below. Looking down upon the silent streets, she cautiously hopped onto the window sill with great ease, and casually stepped into the night air.

 **Author's Note**

I'm so sorry I haven't posted any stories in awhile, I have no excuse, I just ran out of inspiration for Geode. (I may or may not finish that, by the way). However, I am really excited about this story and really feeling it. My creative juices are flowing for the next chapter! If you haven't read my past stories, you should, though one of them I haven't finished and might not. Really the only story genre I've finished is MLB. Well, all those frustrations from season two must be channeled into something, right? Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you'll read my next chapter!

PS: The design for Claire's suit I borrowed from the Pokémon movie Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, (just so you know I am a Pokémon nerd too, Glaceon is the best!) anyway, you should watch the movie, it's really good and on Netflix! Since I can't publish this story with any links or photos, just search Kimia Pokémon into the search bar, and look at images, just to get an idea.

PPS: The picture I pasted is just the idea for Claire's skirt, not the hair or anything else, just the skirt, the rest of the suit is basically ladybug's but all black.


	2. Society chapter 2

**Society**

 **Chapter 2**

James was alright. He was alright with his father's death, his mother's suicide, and his horrible job. He was alright with it all because he was able to see the love of his life every day. Miss Claire Wolfhard, his best friend, the only light in his life. Before his family went bankrupt, he could have been able to play with her and everyone knew they would marry someday. But now, a lady of such class could never marry a person like him. A poor boy barely scraping enough coins together to buy food. James thought of this as he rushed to his bed in the servants quarters. How could he be such an idiot, simply knocking on her door in the middle of the night for a box! He should have just given it to her the next morning. He fell on his rickety bed, and something hit him on the head. Sitting up, he realized it was the same box that he gave to Claire! _But why would this be here?_ He thought, _didn't I give this to her earlier?_ Examining the box, he realized it was decorated with an angry red symbol that beckoned him to look inside. James flipped open the box. When he did, a ball of blinding light shot out. With a shout, he dropped it. Grateful all of the other servants were still cleaning up after the party, he shouted again when a red and black spots filled his vision.

"Hi! I am Tikki, and I am a- oh." She drifted off. "You're a boy," she stated, crossing her arms. James suddenly remembered the small carving knife, a gift from his father, he held under his pillow he slowly inched back towards its hiding place. "Well, no matter!" The bug thing said, shaking it's head and extending a paw, "I'm Tikki, and I'm your new kwami!" James' hand grasped the hilt of the knife and whipped it out at the kwami.

Tiki let out a frightened squeal. "Please, I'm not here to hurt you!"

"About how much would you reckon a 'Kamo' pelt would sell for?"

"Kwami, and I'm afraid not much." She corrected, crossing her little arms, "my purpose is to change lives," she stated, "but you don't seem to have one," she smirked, looking around the servants quarters.

"Fine, what do you want."

"I'm here for a snack."

"I might have a few cracker- hey!" He shouted when she greedy snatched the cracker from his hand and started to nibble on it. "Can you leave now?" He asked when she finished.

"Sure, but to dispel me, you must put these cufflinks on, and say the three magic words, as I am a magic being," she explained, dropping two spotted cufflinks into his hand.

James rolled his hazel eyes, "fine. What are they," he said, fastening them to his waiter jacket. He decided to humor the strange talking bug.

"Tikki, spots on," but you have to truly mean it, and I will leave you alone.

"Tikki, spots on? But that doesn't make- AAAH!" He shouted when pink sparkles attacked him. A strange warm feeling in his chest flared up and seemed to spread through his veins. After the pink subsided, he looked down. He was dressed in and all red body suit, adorned with belts, buckles and boots, and covered in black spots!

 _What in the world?! What am I wearing? Oh Lord, that thing cursed me, I knew it was bad!_ He thought to himself, all the while trying to pry the suit off his body. He noticed around his waist was a string, and attached to that was a disc. _I used to play with these all the time when I was younger!_ He thought as he picked up the toy. Suddenly, James herd the faint _click clack_ of footsteps nearing the door the servants quarters. Panicked, James spied a rafter about three feet above his head. With a burst of confidence, he jumped higher than humanly possible, grasped the wood with his gloved hands and hoisted himself up, just as one of the housemaids, Mariana, came in the room. Before the door closed, James crawled above her and caught it with his index finger. Without a sound, he swiftly swung himself off the stud and through the doorway, letting it close behind him. Astounded at his feat, James wanted to test himself on the city. Silently, he dashed up the servant's stairs and through the side door to the gardens. Now that he had time to himself, he examined the disc. Wanting to see how far the string would reach, he flung it at one of the chimneys of the next door mansion. To his surprise, the disc kept on going and looped around the brick. _No one will miss me anyway,_ he thought, and with a deep breath, leaped and shot away from the only home he had known for most of his life.

 **Authors note**

Yay! Ladybug's a dude! To be honest, I have no idea what to name the superheroes and villains in this story, or what gender to make Hawkmoth (yes, he's in here too because I have no creativity.) so please, in the comments, let me know any good names for male Ladybug and female Chat Noir (also Hawkmoth, please). I will be accepting the best answers for two weeks, or until March 10th. (Please help me). And by the way, Yo-yos were called discs back then, and yes, I looked it up, they did exist in the 1800s.


	3. Chapter 3

**Society**

 **Chapter 3**

Claire fell to the ground with a soft thud. When she pried her eyes back open, she was safely nestled in between two rose bushes in the garden outside of her house, and she somehow landed on all fours. Any other clothing item she could have worn would have been ripped to shreds in the sharp thorns, but thanks to her strange suit, she couldn't feel anything, yet somehow, she felt everything. She could _feel_ the birds in the sky and every creature's life humming around her, and suddenly she felt very small. Shaking her head, she decided to try out some of the features Plagg explained to her before. Reaching behind her, she drew out a silver baton, which seemed to hum with life itself. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the glowing paw print and shot into the air. Above the rooftops of New York, Claire was precariously perched on her staff. As she surveyed the dimly lit streets, her body began to tilt. Absentmindedly, she shifted her body to balance out her weight and keep herself upright. Suddenly, the pole shot out from underneath her. Twisting her torso around as she fell, she softly landed on all fours again, without a scratch. Wildly, she looked about her. Her family's groundskeeper, Henry Jones, stared at her in fear. Shocked, Henry gave a surprised squeak,

"I-I thought it was some kind of lightning rod. We 'aven't the need for one so I tried to kick it down." Fearful now for his own safety, he brought the rake he was holding to shield his body. In response, a deep growl rumbled in her throat. Trembling, he brought the rake down on her exposed back. 

With lightning fast reflexes she whipped around, snatched the rake, darted out of reach and snapped it without breaking a sweat. Fearful at what she had just done, she quickly picked her baton off of the ground and propelled herself into the air, away from the petrified Mr. Jones.

Landing solidly on another faraway roof top, Claire stopped to regain her senses. Unsure of what just happened, she examined the baton. Pressing another pad on the paw print, a small mirror popped out of the top. _What am I?_ She thought, touching the mask around her eyes. She pressed more buttons, and more things appeared on the tiny screen. Confused, Claire shook her golden head and slid the staff home at the small of her back. When she was small, her father used to point out certain stars and how one could tell the time by the position of the moon. Now, she glanced up, the full moon was just reaching its peak. She had the whole rest of the night to herself. She didn't want to go back now, there was no way she could sleep while there was so much to explore. Up here, she didn't have to be the perfect image that her family expected her to be, she was stronger and more confident in the mask than she ever has been. She could handle herself, right? She got up to fly away again, but before she could take out her staff, a red blur streaked out of the sky and landed on her, knocking her off her feet. 

**Author's note**

Sorry this one's so short, but I couldn't think of anything else to put into this chapter. Next chapter _should_ be longer, but don't hate me if it isn't, it's hard to do all this _and_ Homework! So ya, I'll try my best for chapter 4. Thanks for reading!

PS: I have the names for Claire's, James', and Hawkmoth's alter egos, and I'm very proud of them. (I had to make up Claire's and James', and I think the names are awesome. If you have any questions or suggestions please PM me!),

-Serena (author)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 1**

"Oh my Lord I'm so sorry I-" James shook his head and held his hand out for the person he just bowled over. "Y-you're a girl!" He exclaimed when he grasped her hand and helped her up.

"Is that a problem?" She asked pointedly, brushing herself off. "You must be my partner, I'm Cl-woah." She cut off when she looked at him. Unlike anything he's ever seen, her green irises filled her entire eyes, her pupils slit like a cat's. Now that he's gotten a good look at her, he realized she was a cat-well, sort of. The tail-like ribbon tied in a bow around her waist stirred the air around her. Realizing he was still holding her hand, he bent down and kissed it lightly. "You're a ladybird." She said rather blatantly.

"Actually, my name is Lady _bug._ And you are?

" _I_ could be a lady of rather high class, so I shall call you what I please, and I prefer Ladybird. A nickname, if you will." She replied haughtily.

"Whatever you say, Mittens." He smirked down at her, for she was quite shorter than him. Aggravated at her far worse nickname than his, she crossed her arms and pouted to the dark buildings. "Hey, I'm sorry. I won't call you Mittens if you want. Also, Ladybird isn't _so_ bad of a nickname." He consoled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He thought it was ridiculous that she was so offended, but he banished the thought from his mind as soon as it came.

"Fine," she said, "but I'm still calling you Ladybird, Ladybird." Rolling his eyes, he caught a flicker of movement on the cobbled street below them. Following his eyes, the girl immediately snapped to attention as she saw what he saw.

"I'm terribly sorry m'lady, but you'll have to excuse me, there is no place for a woman when facing a nefarious criminal," he said, properly excusing himself for the conversation. Rising into a crouch, he slunk down the slanted rooftop, silently dropping down a few feet behind the man who had a black bag and was emerging from the Lilland's mansion next door into the cone of light under a hanging streetlamp. Firmly on the ground, James casually sauntered up to the man and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, the robber whipped out a silver revolver and pointed it at James' head. Newly aware of his predicament, James put his hands in the air and fearfully started to kneel down. The man cocked the revolver. Before he could fire, a delicate clawed hand plucked the revolver from the man's hand from above. In astonishment, James looked up to see the cat-girl perched upside down on the streetlamp, examining the gun.

"This is no such tool a gentleman like you should be carrying around for a midnight stroll," she teased. To both men's astonishment, she snapped the steel barrel of the revolver like a twig and dropped the two halves on the stones below her. Terrified, the robber dropped to his knees next to the remainder of his weapon. "What were you saying before, Ladybird? Something about women and fighting, but god, my tiny female mind just can't remember!" She smirked at James on the floor, hands still above his head, when suddenly, the man in black snatched up the bottom half of his revolver and smacked James hard in the temple. "Cataclysm!" He heard someone shout before his vision slipped into darkness.

 **Author's note**

My apologies, again, for the small chapter and the late publication! In school I had three class projects going on at once and zero free time. My inspiration is firing right now, so I should publish the next chapter soon!

 _Au revoir!_

-Serena


End file.
